What I most want to know is, will Microsoft also be stopping the auto validation system for when I have a full cleanup and want to reinstall from my fully bought and paid-for retail version of XP SP2 ?

This is an excellent point. It didn’t even occur to me that MS might yank the plug on re-installation, although it would be great if someone could speak authoritatively to this point. I see is nothing on MS’s lifecycle page (windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/products/lifecycle) concerning perpetual re-installation.

That got me wondering and I think it is a valid question so I contacted a rep at Microsoft and posed it to the Windows team.

This is the reply I got back from a Microsoft spokesperson:

After XP End Of Support, Windows XP will remain on MSDN and TechNet for customers who still need to activate and re-activate XP (there aren’t new retail copies). We don’t have a date to share around when activation will be shut off, but it will be on for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately for many of us the latest OS that Outlook Express will run within is XP. So I am now constrained to using Microsoft’s Virtual Machine – an XP “sub-OS” within Windows 7 Pro. It works, but for how long. Typical Scrooge greed. When a company isn’t making enough money they figure out how to obsolete products. And rather than suporting decades long faithful customers, they force us to move on to the next maybe-not-so-functional replacement. Oops, did I forgot to mention that your new software will probably now be an annual subscription rather than a one-time purchase. C’est la vie.

I have a 19 year old HP DesignJet 200 large format printer (plotter) that works perfectly well but is not supported by HP beyond XP (No Drivers for Vista or above). I use an old XP computer as a server for the printer on my network. Anyone have any ideas?

I used to love XP (and still do) but now I feel the same about Windows 7. It’s so stable and smooth and is compatible with all of my old hardware and software. I’m sure in another 5-6 years time, people will probably say the same about this version.

Brad VanHorn, you need to do something besides becoming a “top commenter.” And some of us don’t sit around playing computer games all day. So we don’t ask questions like why do people who bought XP and never had a problem with it want to continue using it. Let’s see, maybe because #1, it’s the most stable version of windows ever put out, and #2, we’re sick of reading complaints about every single Windows update since XP, and #3, we don’t feel like forking over money for another bug-filled edition that will be obsolete in a few years.

I have 2 perfectly working calculators (Sharp elsi mates) from the early 80’s, a 2 speed hammer drill from 1977, and various other items that work perfectly well and are fine for what I need. Am I supposed to throw them away and buy new ??. As for why would anyone use XP in 2013, well it works well and does everything I need. I paid good money for it, so why should I pay again for something I dont want or need ?. With a view to buying a new computer I tried the Win 8 preview, took me ages to find how to turn the thing off. I don’t like it at all looks awful…charms ??? etc wtf., maybe the 8.1 will be better. Anyway nothing wrong with XP except memory handling.

@Brad VanHorn: You asked why people why they would want to continue running an XP computers? I could come up with dozens of reasons why it is easier to run and it has nothing to do with games. It would take up this entire webpage explaining my point of view. I run both XP & Windows 7 and there is a world of difference starting with Windows Explorer.